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But he said it was important that Remainers didn’t try to “thwart” Brexit, telling the audience: “The decision was made and we’ve got to get on and make the best possible deal.”

Mr Chalk, who represented Cheltenham at Parliament after winning the seat at the 2015 General Election, was sharing the stage at the Park Campus with his challengers: Martin Horwood from the Liberal Democrats, Adam Van Coevorden from the Green Party and Labour’s Keith White.

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Mr Horwood, for the Lib Dems, who lost his seat to Mr Chalk two years ago, said it was vital that people were elected to Parliament that would fight ‘hard’ Brexit and attacked Prime Minister Theresa May’s “confrontational approach” to the negotiations.

Martin Horwood pictured in 2010

He stressed his party’s manifesto commitment to another EU referendum, when the British public would be offered the chance to vote on the deal struck between Britain.

And the option to ‘Remain’ would be there he told the hustings, hosted by the University of Gloucestershire's Media School.

Labour’s Keith White said the narrowness of the Leave win (52 per cent to 48 per cent) should mean a ‘soft’ Brexit.

Labour candidate Keith White

He said we do most of our trade with Europe, and those trade deals should be protected. He also said it was important to guard against loss of workers’ rights as we leave the bloc.

While Adam Van Coevorden said he agreed with Mr Horwood on a second referendum, saying if the deal on the table is a “dog’s dinner”, it should be possible to reject it at a referendum.

Green candidate Adam Van Coevorden

It was Brexit and its many ramifications that dominated the hustings event in Cheltenham with the four men wanting to be the town’s MP after the General Election on Thursday, June 8.

Held in front of students and a politically-balanced ticket-only audience, it was not surprising that issues surrounding tuition fees also featured heavily.

The environment, the voting age, and young people’s disengagement from politics, were also raised by the audience.

And the panel also discussed the issue of tactical voting, with parties seeking to work together in a bid to reduce the widely predicted Tory majority in the election.

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This was vigorously attacked by Labour’s Mr White who said people should vote in what they believe, “it’s your vote” he said and it should be used to support the candidate and party you believe in: What do you want this country to be like in the next five years, he asked?

While Mr Van Coevorden said a pact between the Greens and Lib Dems was thwarted at a national level, with the Lib Dems, he said, rejecting a like-for-like arrangement of candidates standing aside in constituencies.

But he said if people want to support his Lib Dem rival, “that’s fine.”